Pre-monsoon rains force mango farmers to call off season a month early

Large scale damage of standing crop that was ripening, production impacted by as much as 35%

Pre-monsoon showers, along with advanced onset of monsoon in Gujarat, have forced mango farmers to call off the season early this year even as production and sales take a hit. With a late start and an early end, mango season in Gujarat has shortened by almost a month.

Firstly, mango production, be it the popular kesar variety in regions like Talala in Saurashtra and Kutch or alphonso, dasehri and langda in the southern part of the state like Valsad and Navsari took a hit due to unpleasant weather. According to farmers and traders alike, while mango flowering was as good as last year or any normal year, a delay in onset of summer season deprived the crop of right temperature leading to delayed ripening. 

"While flowering was good, ripening of mangoes got delayed and even suffered damage due to lack of right temperature. This led to not only fall in production but also delay in mango arrivals to markets," said Narendra Radadiya, one of the leading mango farmers from Talala, especially in kesar variety. Hence, instead of the usual last week of April, mango season began late by a fortnight in the third week of May. 

However, now with the early rains and advanced onset of monsoon, the delayed standing crop which were just ripening got destroyed, forcing several farmers to call off the season early. As against mid-June when rains begin by when the mango season is largely over, Gujarat saw early rains induced by the cyclone Nisarg from June 2.

"This led to several crops getting spoilt forcing farmers to call of the season. Unlike in a normal year, the season ended at least 10 days early. With a late start and early end, the entire mango season in Gujarat has been shortened by almost a month," said Ramnikbhai Savaliya, a leading mango trader from Talala.

This has also led to an overall production impact of 30-35 per cent say farmers and traders. As against an estimated 1-1.2 million boxes (of 10 kg each) arriving in one of the markets in Talala, the same was down to 700,000 boxes this year.

The delayed and reduced supply, however, turned out to be a boon for those farmers who were able to sell at much higher prices than last year. "Prices were higher by at least Rs 100 per box than last year due to high demand even amidst the lockdown. However, due to fall in production, generally farmers incurred a loss of 10-15 per cent," said Radadiya.

The lockdown also ended up as a boon for mango farmers in Gujarat since last of varieties from other states led to higher demand for local varieties.

However, in southern parts of the state like Valsad and Navsari, the popular alphonso, dasehri and langda varieties saw a bigger loss due to higher prices. "Since our prices were quite higher than that from Talala, not only did farmers face anywhere between 30 per cent and 50 per cent fall in production due to unfavourable weather but also 15-20 per cent loss in sales due to competitiveness of other regions in the state," said Suresh Gavit, a Navsari-based mango farmer.

As against a kesar variety from Talala, Kutch and other markets priced at around Rs 500-550 per 10 kg box, mangoes from Valsad and Navsari were priced at around Rs 600-700 per box, said Gavit.

Pointers:

-15 days delay in start of mango season due to bad weather

-10 days early end to season due to pre-monsoon rains

-Mango season shortened by almost a month

-Mango production down by 30-35%

-Mango prices higher by Rs 100-150 per box of 10 kg than normal